Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 24 in F major, K376

When he was eight years old Mozart wrote a series of duo sonatas sanctioned for violin or fl ute and keyboard. Written in London, they were dedicated to Queen Charlotte. The sonatas performed on this disc were written much later for violin but, using that earlier precedent, have been transcribed for fl ute by one of the world’s greatest exponents of the instrument, Patrick Gallois. Memorably tuneful, they represent different stages of Mozart’s development and are beautifully suited to their new guise.

Catherine Mackintosh and Geoffrey Govier formed Duo Amadè in order to perform the charming and intimate works for keyboard and violin by Mozart in concert, often with readings from his family letters. In 2006 Duo Amadè performed the whole cycle at the Royal College of Music. Catherine Mackintosh in particular has long been recognised as a pioneering early music spirit and in recording the complete cycle of duo sonatas is fulfilling the ambition of a lifetime.

The First Volume (CHAN0755) of Duo Sonatas was released in late 2008, being made an ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Gramophone in recognition of its musicality and ‘historically informed performance’. The Second Volume (CHAN0764) was a ‘Critics’ Choice’ in the December 2009 issue of the same magazine, Duncan Druce writing: ‘I’ve been enjoying the infectiously enthusiastic music-making on Duo Amadè’s second volume of Mozart sonatas. In these wonderful works, Geoffrey Govier and Catherine Mackintosh give the instrumental dialogue the wit and verve of a spirited operatic exchange.’

In this third collection of sonatas, featuring KV 376, KV 378, and KV 526, Duo Amadè once again offers performances of similar spirit and style.

Geoffrey Govier plays a fortepiano made by Christopher Clarke in Cluny, after an instrument by Anton Walter, while Catherine Mackintosh plays a violin by Giovanni Grancino, dating from 1703. These instruments bring a lightness and freshness of articulation to these delightful works, entirely in keeping with the spirit of enlightenment in which the sonatas were written.

In these sonatas, both instruments are given equal status and are performed here on period instruments. The legendary artist Paul Badura-Skoda was a pioneer in using period instruments in performance. Irnberger has impressed critics with his Mozart interpretations: “When the violin sings arias”.

Mozart wrote these sonatas as violin sonatas, which were published in Hamburg and Paris around 1800 as an arrangement for flute and piano. The arrangement heard on this album is a new adaptation by Shigeko Fukui-Fauser. It was derived from the original edition of the violin sonatas (Henle Verlag) and adapted for the flute. The approach was to come closer to Mozart‘s musical spirit – piano sonatas with lead instrumental extension – than in the Paris edition and to free the music from historical dogma.

The Duo partnership of Gary Cooper and Rachel Podger has taken them worldwide. Their recordings of Mozart’s Complete Sonatas for Keyboard & Violin have received countless awards and accolades.

Rachel Podger is widely recognised as one of the great violinists of her time – she won a Gramophone Award for her recording of Vivaldi’s La Stravaganza in 2003.

Gary Cooper is established as one of the foremost ambassadors of the harpsichord and fortepiano - in particular, as an interpreter of Bach’s & Mozart’s keyboard music.